A 100th birthday celebration for the Windsor’s Crossroads Community Building.

It was a grand celebration on Saturday for the 100th birthday of the Windsor’s Crossroads Community Building.

Despite a steady rain that began just as the party started, there were smiles on the faces of those in attendance as they enjoyed hot dogs, homemade ice cream from the nearby Amish creamery and live music.

“It started off in 1916 as a school house,” explained Bill Wooten, president of the Windsor’s Crossroads Ruritan Club. “For the first 20 years it served as first, second and third grade for this community. It was one of the biggest and nicest schoolhouses at that time.”

Wooten said the building sat mostly empty from 1935 to 1955. In 1955 a community organization known as the Grange refurbished the building and won a national award for doing so. The Ruritan Club is now in charge of the building. Preserving the historical structure is a large part of the mission as well as keeping it in order for community events. The group hosts numerous breakfasts at the building, which are very popular in the community, as well as an annual tractor parade.

A new stained glass window was added to the building in honor of the 100th anniversary of its construction. That window was created by local stained glass artist Avery Wooten.

Wanda Barron Jordan, who attended Saturday’s celebration, called the building a treasure.

“My daddy went to school here,” she said. “It’s just really a nice little tribute to have here in the neighborhood and it’s nice it has been preserved.”

The Ruritan Club recently held a class in the building, under the direction of Anita Kernodle, teaching attendees to make barn quilt paintings. Several of those paintings were available for purchase as a fundraiser for the group. Commemorative plates and prints featuring a drawing of the building were also sold.

In addition to preserving this piece of history, the Ruritans also raise funds that go towards scholarships for local students and helping out community members in need.

The club’s popular breakfasts are usually by donation as a fundraiser, but Wooten said they decided to offer the hot dogs and ice cream without asking for donations as a community celebration for the building. Attendees soon began to ask, however, where the donation bucket was.

Wooten laughed and said that was a pretty good problem to have. A donation bucket was quickly located for those who wanted to contribute. A new roof is next up on the list of improvement projects for the 100-year old building.

The Ruritan’s next big event will be a breakfast and tractor cruise on August 20.

Kitsey Burns Harrison may be reached at 336-679-2341 or on Twitter @RippleReporterK.

A new stained glass window commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Windsor’s Crossroads Community Building

http://elkintribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_windsor_2.jpgA new stained glass window commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Windsor’s Crossroads Community Building

A gathering in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Windsor’s Crossroads Community Building.

http://elkintribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_windsor_4.jpgA gathering in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Windsor’s Crossroads Community Building.